Renew Your Vision

Have you ever done something so crazy and daring that it surprised even you?

In the movie, The Blind Side, LeAnn Touhy, played by Sandra Bullock, takes in a big young black student who had been living on the streets.  She took him to her home, gave him a place to stay, purchased clothes for him and tried to put a smile on his face.

In one scene, LeAnn is at a luncheon with some other wealthy white wives who began to tease and chide her about helping the young boy.  At one time the even questioned if she felt safe having a young black boy in her home with her teenage daughter.  The issues raised in this scene are astounding to me.  I find it personally sad that there are still people who judge others and their actions based on the color of skin or the side of the tracks where they reside.  Regardless, the true point of the scene is one of LeAnn's friends giving her a hard time for her decision.

Have you ever done something that others challenged you on?  Something so daring and brave that others felt it their duty to tell you why you should not even be trying?

52 weeks ago, a small group of people joined my wife and I in our home and together we began believing God that we could establish a church that would make a difference in Moore, Oklahoma.  I know plenty of people who told me and still tell me that this is a crazy dream and that we are insane for doing what we are doing.  Crazy to believe that God can use us to bring renewal to Moore.

They ask questions like:  How will you fund it?  When will their be a full scale Kids program?  When will their be a youth group?  I have learned you know you are doing something crazy and daring when few come along and offer to do what ever is needed in order to help make the dream a reality.  Thus, I am beginning to believe that God lives in the land of Crazy.

The Bible is full of people whose life was changed and reshaped or renewed by venturing beyond the comfortable lands of familiarity and into the uncharted land of the brave and the bold.  One of my favorite of these such men was Abram. 

Hebrews 11:8 says, "By Faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going."

In other words....ABRAHAM TOOK A HIKE...OFF THE MAP.

I believe that 2010 is to be a year of revolution not resolution.  A chance to see renewal come to our lives and city.  A chance for a fresh start.  That's the beauty of a new year is it gives everyone a fresh start.

This month I want to encourage and help you discover 5 key areas that have the potential to produce a renewed you in 52 weeks.  But for this to happen we have to begin by talking about how we approach life.

Most of us are comfortable driving in an unknown place as long as we have GPS or a map.

Do you know what a map is though?  Maps are the result of some else's journey.  They are proof that someone else walked here first.  Someone blazed a trail.  Someone was crazy.  But what they truly possessed was more than just craziness.  They possessed vision.

Vision is all about what you see and what you do with that information.

A key component of a good QB is his vision.  Can he read what the defense is going to do and make the proper adjustments to give his team the best opportunity of success?

But...

If he can read the defense and make the proper adjustments but if he fails to throw the ball to the open receive what good is his vision?

In reality, Vision without actions is Blindness.

Hebrews 8:11 says that, "...Abraham obeyed and went..."

That is the picture of a man with vision who saw and acted on what he saw.  That sounds like a man who is living life on his tip toes instead of on his heals.

Let's test your vision today.  Can you list three things that you would like to change about your life or you personally?

Can you now come up with a simple process to change those things?

You see, that takes vision.

Vision isn't about diagnosing a problem but finding a creative solution to it.

You know that map of your life - your habits; your tendencies, etc.  But if you want to renew you, it is imperative that you walk off the map. 

For me this involved embracing a concept that I call, Action Zones instead of resolutions and goals.

These are 5 areas that I want to work on all year.  So at the start of each week, I will look at each of these Action Zones and put one step (goal) for that week in play. So instead of trying to keep a goal or resolution for 52 weeks, I work on my Action Zones in each zone a week at a time.

For example, here are my Action Zones for 2010:

• Rightness
• • (being accountable to a higher standard).
  • Create in me a clean Heart and renew a right spirit within me.
    
    
• Experiences
• • Being open to new experiences each week.
  • Like meeting someone new each week.

• Nurturing
• • Actively displaying my care and love for others in my life.
    
• Empowering
• • This is the idea of having authority and giving it away.
  • This is about building leaders and people for God's glory by giving them room to make mistakes and even failures in an effort to empower them to believe in themselves.
    
• Wholeness
• • Whole people are those who are healthy in the four key areas:  Mind, Body, Heart and Emotions.
  • "Love God with all your heart (HEART), with all your soul (EMOTIONS), with     all your mind (MIND) and with all your strength (BODY)."
    

Tomorrow I will share with you why I believe that Abraham took this hike and how you can take one too.

Comments

[ugg boots]

Thank you so much for featuring a few of my skirts, though the best have yet to be photographed. I wish that I had a video to show you how they swirl around ones body while walking or dancing - that's the real magic.

[Christian Louboutin Outlet]

Wanted to see it from the first trailer, the second red band “hit girl” trailer made me anxious to see it and now this third trailer has made me need to see it.
Very cute! I LOVE the color, too.

[Puma Outlet]

Scarcity of food markets? Not in this immediate part of the neighborhood -there's a Super Foodtown, Bravo, and a few fruit/veggie stands a couple of blocks away. In the summers there's a farmer's market that has gained momentum.